Chapter V: Part II: Conceptions of God (1)

LESSON XI.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

_ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF GOD._

_ANALYSIS._ _REFERENCES._

_I. Antediluvian Knowledge of God; Genesis, Ch. iii-x.
Testimony of--_ Book of Moses, Chs. iv-viii,
1. Adam, Inclusive. Especially
2. Enoch, v:4-9, 11, 12; vi:1; 56-58.
3. Noah, Doc. & Cov. Lecture
on Faith No. II, verses
_II. Postdiluvian Knowledge of God; 18-20; also v. 30-36.
Testimony of--_ "The Gospel" (Roberts),
Ch. ix (3d Edition),
Note 1. Genesis, Chs. iii-x.

Book of Moses as
above. Lecture on Faith
No. II, 37-56.
Ether, Chs. I, II, III.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." (Gen. v:12.)_

_NOTES._

1. _Sources of Information:_ The sources of information in this lesson are so completely within the reach of all that notes upon the various subdivisions are not considered necessary.

2. _Lecture II On Faith:_ Too much cannot be said of the value of the Second Lecture on Faith in the Doctrine and Covenants. Nowhere else is the manner in which faith in God was brought into the world and preserved among men, so well worked out as in that lecture. It is a very instructive bit of literature, and should be highly prized by the ministry of the Church.

3. _Parallel Between Adam and Noah:_ Each of these great patriarchs occupies a singular relationship to the question of faith in God. Each stood at the head of a great dispensation of the Gospel. Each received the commandment--"Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth," (Gen. I:28, and Gen. IX:1); and as Adam brought with him the knowledge of God for men from beyond the "Fall"--from Eden to this side Eden, so Noah brought the knowledge of God for men from beyond the flood to this side the flood, and is a great witness for God to men. Adam is Michael. (Doc. & Cov. Sec. cvii:54.) Noah is Gabriel. (Hist. of the Church, Vol. III, p. 386); and each was the "Father of all living" in his day.

4. _Importance of the Period Covered in this Lesson:_ To be well versed in the history of the period covered by this lesson, is important. Especially in relation to the knowledge of God that then existed among men; for the knowledge then revealed became the foundation of that belief in God found in subsequent generations of men in the nations of antiquity. Also in this period will be found the roots of those myths and fables in relation to gods, with which some nations and races of men were pleased to amuse, and at last deceive themselves. Believe me, it is not a waste of time to study the historic period from Adam to Noah; and from Noah to Abraham.

5. _Testimony of Moriancumer:_ Let the student also give more than a passing thought to Moriancumer, the Brother of Jared, of the Book of Mormon. He brought the knowledge of God to the Western hemisphere; and the revelation of God to him (Ether: III), was most important, since it was the source of the knowledge of God to that great Jaredite empire which endured for sixteen hundred years in the Western hemisphere, and which was one of the greatest nations of antiquity. (Ether i:42, 43, and xv:2).

LESSON XII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

_ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF GOD.--(Continued.)_

_ANALYSIS._ _REFERENCES._

_III. The Course of Ancient Nations in Meditation and Atonement.
General in Turning from God._ (President John Taylor)
Appendix, pp. 190-205.
_IV. The Nations of the Euphrates Valley._ "History of All Religions"
(Burder), Introduction.
1. Babylon. Also Part VI, p. 505 et seq, Notes
1, 2, 3.
2. Assyria. Gen., Chs. ix, x, xi.
Book of Abraham, Ch. 1.
3. Chaldea. "The World's Worship"
(Dobbins), Ch. v. Myers'
4. Babylonian and Assyrian Beliefs "General History," Ch. iv.
in God. Burder's "History of
All Religions," pp. 511-519.
Oxford and Cambridge
Bible Helps and "Bible
Treasury," Articles on
Babylonia and Assyria.
The Book of Daniel,
Chs. i-v.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the heathen which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes." Ezekiel xxxvi:23._

_NOTES._

1. _Early Corruption of the Doctrine of Deity:_ Believing that the knowledge of God in this world, started with the information which Adam brought with him through the fall, from Eden (See Lesson I, this Book), and with the revelations given in his day, it is believed by the writer that all traditions and conceptions of God which afterwards obtained in very ancient nations were influenced more or less by that knowledge; and that in so far as confusion, mystery and idolatry respecting the being and character of God existed among those nations, it resulted from the early apostasy of men in ancient times from God. On this head the late President John Taylor held the following strong views:

"It is an important fact, holding good of other ancient civilizations as well as that of Egypt, that the farther we trace back their religious beliefs and mythologies, the purer does the creed become, the nearer it approaches to heavenly truth, and the stronger and more evident are the traces of gospel teachings. This fact alone is sufficient to prove that paganism had its origin in the revelations of heaven, from which, in its various diverse branches, it had turned and strayed, and by gradual growth, had become the vile, inconsistent, degrading and loathsome system which is abhorred by all pure-minded, honorable and intelligent people. Had the various forms of ancient, dominant, pagan worship been radically and entirely different, with only those features in common that could reasonably be attributed to accident or the inter-communication of races, the inference would be strong that they had different origins; but when, as is the case, there is a strong family likeness, and that likeness grows stronger the further it is traced back, and continually points to a common parentage, and that parentage is the truth as taught by the early patriarchs and inspired servants of heaven, our conclusions must necessarily be that these correct and God-given teachings were the source from whence the whole sprang, and the differences in development arose from the varied incidents in the history, and the peculiar surroundings of the various races that gave a local hue and tinge to their forms of belief." (Mediation and Atonement, pp. 196-7).

2. _On the Great Diversity of Beliefs in God:_ "A great diversity of religious opinions has prevailed in the world, and different forms of ceremonies have been and still are observed. The religious notions and practices of mankind early diverged from one another,--the 'sons of men' were soon distinguished from 'the sons of God,' the impious from the holy,--and notwithstanding the purgation of the world by a flood, and the subsequent re-establishment of one common faith no sooner did the earth begin to be peopled again, than a diversity of religions took place, each nation and tribe embracing some peculiarity of its own. Such has been the fact, through all the intervening periods of history, to the present day. Each distinct portion of the human family, especially its larger divisions, has had its separate religious dogmas and practices, ranging from pure theism to the grossest idolatry." (Burder's History of All Religions, Introduction, p. 9).

3. _On The Cause of Departure From True Conceptions of God:_ After determining, by extended discussion, that the great diversity in men's beliefs respecting God does not arise from chance, nor external circumstances, nor from any necessity arising from the nature of man's mind, nor from the want of revelation, William Burder, in his great work on the "History of All Religions," finds the true cause of man's departure from the knowledge of God in the radical depravity of the human heart. "Is not that the true cause?" he inquiries. "It seems to us that it can be resolved into no other. Of the depravity of the human heart we are not permitted to doubt, in view of the decisions of the Bible and the results of observation. This, existing and reigning in all men, by nature, would readily dispose them to a diversity of religious views and practices, or rather irreligion under various names. It would readily dispose them to depart from the true belief, and to cast off the restraints of the divine authority. They would be prone to invent many schemes and devices with a view to appease an upbraiding conscience, and to gratify that ceaseless love of novelty, which characterizes the human mind. Except in those in whom the effects of depravity are counteracted by divine grace, there would exist a continual propensity to depart from God and his institutions--to lose sight of religious truth, and become involved in gross darkness and superstition. In such a state, the mind is prepared for every absurdity--

'Nations ignorant of God, contrive
A wooden one.'

"Hence have arisen the altars and demons of heathen antiquity, their extravagant fictions, and abominable orgies. Hence we find among the Babylonians and Arabians the adoration of the heavenly bodies, the earliest form of idolatry; among the Canaanites and Syrians, the worship of Baal, Tammuz, Magog and Astarte; among the Phoenicians, the immolation of children to Moloch; among the Egyptians divine honors bestowed on animals, birds, insects, leeks, and onions; among the Persians, religious reverence offered to fire; and among the polished Greeks, the recognition in their system of faith of thirty thousand Gods." (Burder's History of All Religions, p. 12).

4. _Babylonia and Assyria:_ "These were the two great Eastern empires before which all the old states of Syria and Palestine fell. We learn their history partly from the Bible narrative, and also from contemporary monuments written in cuneiform characters and recently deciphered.

"Babylonia or Shinar (Gen. 10:10) is the alluvial country on the lower course of the Euphrates and Tigris, of which Babel or Babylon [the same] was the chief city. Assyria, or Asshur, occupied the Tigris valley to the north of Babylonia. Its center lay on the left bank of the Tigris, where the great city of Nineveh stood, opposite Mosul. Babylon and Nineveh were long rivals, but they had a common civilization, of which the southern alluvium was the original home. Their language was Semitic, but in the southern country the Semites seem to have been preceded by another race from whom they acquired many things in their culture and religion, and to whom the origin of their peculiar cuneiform system of writing is generally ascribed. In process of time Assyria became the stronger power, and after the Egyptians retired from Mesopotamia, it began to push forth beyond its original limits." (Cambridge Bible Dictionary--70's Bible--p. 14).

5. _The Second Babylonian Kingdom--Or Chaldea:_ The supremacy of the Assyrian Empire over the old, or first, Babylonian Monarchy, lasted but little more than a century. It began 728 B. C. and was overthrown 625 B. C. (Myers' General History, cf. pp. 33, 47.)

"Nabopolassar (625-605 B. C.) was the founder of what is known as the Chaldean or New Babylonian Empire. At first a vassal king, when troubles began to thicken about the Assyrian court, he revolted and became independent. Later he entered into an alliance with the Median king against his former suzerain. Through the overthrow of Nineveh and the break-up of the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian kingdom received large accessions of territory. For a short time thereafter Babylon filled a great place in history. Nabopolassar was followed by his son Nebuchadnezzar, whose renown filled the ancient world. One important event of his reign was the taking of the rebellious city of Jerusalem. The temple was stripped of its sacred vessels of silver and gold, which were carried away to Babylon, and the building itself was given to the flames; a part of the people were also carried away into the "Great Captivity, 586 B. C." (Myers' General History, p. 47.)

6. _The fall of the Chaldean, or Second Babylonian Empire. (538 B. C.):_ "The glory of the New Babylonian Empire passed away with Nebuchadnezzar. To the east of the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates there had been growing up an Aryan kingdom, the Medo-Persian, which, at the time now reached by us [558-529 B. C.] had become a great imperial power. At the head of this new empire was Cyrus, a strong, energetic, and ambitious sovereign. Coming into collision with the Babylonian king Nabonidus, he defeated his army in the open field, and the gates of the strongly fortified capital, Babylon, were without further resistance thrown open to the Persians." (Myers' General History, p. 48).

With the fall of Babylon the scepter of dominion, borne so long by Semitic princes, was given into the hands of the Aryan peoples, who were destined from this time forward to shape the main course of events and control the affairs of civilization.

7. _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria:_ "The religion of the country was a combination of the Shamanistic belief [1] (i. e., a belief that each force of nature had its "spirit," good or bad) of the original Accadian population, along with the nature-worship of the Semitic conquerors. Inscriptions which have been recently deciphered, show that the Babylonians had accounts of the creation and deluge, in many ways similar to those given in the book of Genesis." (Cambridge Bible Dictionary--70's Bible--p. 17).

8. _Underlying Principles of Assyrian-Babylonian Beliefs:_ "The religion of Assyria and Babylonia, was, in its essential principles, and in the general spirit of its conceptions, of the same character of the religion of Egypt, and in general as all pagan religions. When we penetrate beneath the surface which gross Polytheism has acquired from popular superstition, and revert to its original and higher conceptions, we shall find the whole based on the idea of the unity of the Deity, the last relic of the primitive revelation, disfigured indeed and all but lost in the monstrous ideas of pantheism; confounding the creature with the Creator; and transforming the Deity into a god-world, whose manifestations are to be found in all the phenomena of nature. Beneath this supreme and sole God, this great ALL, in whom all things are lost and absorbed, are ranked in an order of emanation corresponding to their importance, a whole race of secondary deities who are emanations from His very substance, who are mere personifications of His attributes and manifestations. The differences between the various pagan religions, is chiefly marked by the differences between these secondary divine beings. * * * * The Chaldea-Assyrian, especially devoted to astronomy, saw in the astral, and especially in the planetary system, a manifestation of the divine being. They considered the stars as His true external manifestation, and in their religious system made them the visible evidence of the subordinate divine emanations from the substance of the infinite being, whom they identified with the world, his work." (The World's Worship--Dobbins--pp. 126, 127).

9. _The Supreme God of the Assyrians--Ilu:_ "The supreme god, the first and sole principle from whom all other deities were derived, was Ilu, whose name signified God par excellence. Their idea of him was too comprehensive, too vast, to have any determined external form, or consequently to receive in general the adoration of the people. * * * * In Chaldea it does not seem that any temple was ever specially dedicated to him; but at Nineveh, and generally throughout Assyria, he seems to have received the peculiarly national name of 'Asshur' (whence was derived the name of the country, Mat Asshur), and this itself seems related to the Aryan name of the deity Asura. With this title he was great god of the land, the especial protector of the Assyrians, he who gave victory to their arms. The inscriptions designate him as "Master, or Chief of the Gods." He it is, perhaps, who is to be recognized in the figure occasionally found on the Assyrian monuments (but probably adopted in later times by the Persians to represent their Ormuzd), representing a human bust, wearing the royal tiara in the middle of a circle borne by two large eagle wings, and with an eagle's tail." (World's Worship,--Dobbins--pp. 126, 127).

10. _Doubts of a Supreme God:_ Myers doubts of there being a conception of a supreme God in the religion of the Bablyon-Assyrian peoples. "At the earliest period made known to us by the native records, we find the pantheon to embrace many local deities (the patron gods of the different cities and nature gods); but at no period do we find a Supreme God. The most prominent feature from first to last of the popular religion was the belief in spirits, particularly in wicked spirits, and the practice of magic rites and incantations to avert the malign influence of these demons. A second important feature of the religion was what is known as astrology, or the foretelling of events by the aspect of the stars. This side of the religious system was most elaborately and ingeniously developed until the fame of the Chaldean astrologers was spread throughout the ancient world." Yet this Historian admits that, "alongside these low beliefs and superstitious practices, there existed, however, higher and purer elements. This is best illustrated by the so-called penitential psalms, dating, some of them, from the second millennium B. C., which breathe a spirit like that which pervades the penitential psalms of the Old Testament." In confirmation of this statement, he quotes one of these psalms, translated by Jastro:

"O, my god, who art angry with me, accept my prayer!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

May my sins be forgiven, my transgressions be wiped out.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

(May) flowing waters of the stream wash me clean!
Let me be pure, like the sheen of gold."
(Myers' General History, p. 38.)

"The cuneiform writings on the tablets," says James Freeman Clarke, author of 'Ten Great Religions,' "show us that the Assyrians also prayed." "On an unpublished tablet in the British Museum, is this prayer of King Asshur-da-ni-pal, B. C. 650:

"May the look of pity that shines in thine eternal face dispel my
griefs.

"May I never feel the anger and wrath of the God.

"May my omissions and my sins be wiped out.

"May I find reconciliation with Him, for I am the servant of His
power, the adorer of the great gods.

"May Thy powerful face come to my help; may it shine like
heaven, and bless me with happiness and abundance of riches.

"May it bring forth in abundance, like the earth, happiness and every
sort of good." (Ten Great Religions, p. 234).

10. _The Assyrian Triads--Trinities:_ "Below Ilu, the universal and mysterious source of all, was placed a triad, composed of his three first external and visible manifestations, and occupying the summit of the hierarchy of gods in popular worship. Anu, the Oannes of the Greek writers, was the lord of darkness; Bel, the demiurgus, the organizer of the world; Ao, called also Bin, that is, the divine 'Son' par excellence, the divine light, the intelligence penetrating, directing and vivifying the universe. These three divine persons esteemed as equal in power and consubstantial, were not held as of the same degree of emanation, but were regarded as having on the contrary, issued the one from the other--Ao from Oannes, and Bel from Ao. Oannes, the "Lord of the Lower World, the Lord of Darkness," was represented on the monuments under the strange figure of a man with an eagle's tail, and for his head dress an enormous fish, whose open mouth rises over his head, while the body covers his shoulders. It is under this form that, Berosus tells us, according to Babylonian tradition, he floated on the surface of the waters of Chaos. Bel, the 'Father of the Gods,' was usually represented under an entirely human form, attired as a king, wearing a tiara with bull's horns, the symbol of power. But this god took many other secondary forms, the most important being Bel-Dagon, a human bust springing from the body of a fish. We do not know exactly the typical figure of Ao or Bin, 'the intelligent guide, the Lord of the visible world, the Lord of Knowledge, of Glory and Light.' The serpent seems to have been his principal symbol; though some other sculptured figures seem to be intended to represent Bin.

"A second triad is produced with personages no longer vague and indeterminate in character, like those of the first, but with a clearly defined sidereal aspect, each representing a known celestial body, and especially those which the Chaldeo-Assyrians saw the most striking external manifestations of the deity; these were Shamash, the sun; Sin, the moon god; and a new form of Ao or Bin, inferior to the first, and representing him as god of the atmosphere or firmament. Thus did they industriously multiply deities and representations of them." (World's Worship--Dobbins--p. 128-9).

11. _Observations on This Lesson:_ The notes on this lesson are copious; made so because it is quite possible that the books quoted may not be within reach of many of the students, and yet, of course, they convey a very incomplete idea of the views of the Babylonian-Assyrians respecting God. It is suggested that some of the members of the class make special preparation on the subject, by a careful study of the authorities cited in the references given in the analysis of the lesson (and other authorities), and deliver a public lecture on the subject. It is really rich in points of contact with the great Latter-day work, which will suggest themselves to any well-informed Elder.

Footnotes

1. _Shamanism:_ "A general name applied to the idolatrous religions of a number of barbarous nations. * * These nations generally believe in a supreme being, but to this they add the belief that the government of the world is in the hands of a number of secondary gods, both benevolent and malevolent toward man, and that it is absolutely necessary to propitiate them by magic rites and spells. The general belief respecting another life appears to be that the condition of man will be poorer and more wretched than the present, hence death is regarded with great dread." (Century Dictionary.)

LESSON XIII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

_ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF GOD.--(Continued.)_

_ANALYSIS._ _REFERENCES._

_V. Belief of the Egyptians:_ Book of Abraham (P.G.P.),
Ch. i, 16-31. Hist.
1. Origin of the Egyptians. of Ancient Egypt (Rawlinson
1882), Ch. iii.
2. Egyptians a Deeply Religious Book of Abraham, A
People. Divine and Ancient Record
(Reynolds), Ch. iv.
3. Esoteric and Exoteric Religion Notes 1, 2.
in Egypt.
Hist. Ancient Egypt
4. Significance of Animal Worship (Rawlinson), Ch. x.
by Egyptians. Burder's "Hist. of All
Religions," Part vi, pp. 505
et seq. "Story of
the World's Worship"
(Dobbins), Ch. v. Notes
3, 4, 5.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord and shall perform it." Isaiah xix:21._

_NOTES._

1. _Origin of the Egyptians:_ Speaking of the king of Egypt, who was reigning at the time the Lord called Abraham to be His witness among men, the patriarch said: "Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth. From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land. The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden. When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land. Now, the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal." (Book of Abraham--P. G. P.--Ch. 1; verses 21-26).

2. _Confirmation of Statements From Book of Abraham on Origin of Egyptians:_ The student will find the origin of the Egyptians, according to standard secular histories upon the subject--Bunsen, Rawlinson, Wilkinson, and the Encyclopaedia Articles--wrapped in mystery. These facts, however, may be gathered from the authorities referred to above, that tend to confirm the important information given in the Book of Abraham quoted in note 1, with reference to the Egyptians: "Although located in Africa [they] were not an African people (i. e., not an indigenous race). * * * * The Egyptian language, while of a peculiar type, has analogies which connect it both with the Semitic and with the Indo-European forms of speech, more especially with the former. We must regard the Egyptians, therefore, as an Asiatic people, immigrants into their own territory, which they entered from the East." (History of Ancient Egypt--Rawlinson--Vol. I, Ch. III). The theory that the Egyptians immigrated from the South--Ethiopia--down the Nile, is discussed by these writers, but usually discredited. Josephus, when speaking of one of the ancient Egyptian kings Sethosis, says, upon the authority of Manetho, that "Sethosis was called 'Egyptus,' and that the country also was called from his name, 'Egypt'" (Against Apion, Book I:15). Which circumstance, doubtless, is but a confusion of the more ancient facts related in the Book of Abraham with reference to "Egyptus," wife of Ham, son of Noah, whose descendants inhabited Egypt. Her name, "Egyptus," signifying "that which is forbidden," proclaims her race, a descendant of Cain, the murderer, with whose seed the descendants of Adam, through Seth--to whom pertained the covenants and promises of the priesthood,--were forbidden to inter-marry. But Ham, it appears, violated that injunction, and married into Cain's race. His wife's name was 'Egyptus,' signifying "forbidden"; and their daughter, who discovered the valley of the Nile and settled her sons in it, was also called "Egyptus" (Cf. v. 23 and 25, Ch. i. Book of Abraham), and her name, following or, perhaps, one had better say, originating the custom of ancient nations in naming lands and cities after the persons discovering them, or founding them, or who were prominently connected with their history, (see New Witness for God, Vol. III, pp. 139-42),--her name was given to the land she discovered and settled.

3._ Ancient Egyptians Essentially A Religious People:_ The "Egyptians," said Herodotus, writing in the middle of the fifth century before our Era--"The Egyptians are religious to excess, far beyond any other race of men." "Religion permeated the whole being of the people," writes Rawlinson; and then quoting Lenormant, says: "Writing was so full of sacred symbols and of allusions to mythology, that it was scarcely possible to employ it on any subject which lay outside the religion." Then again: "To understand the Egyptians, it is thus absolutely necessary to have something like a clear idea of their religion. The subject is, no doubt, one of great complexity and considerable obscurity; the views of the best authorities with respect to it still differ to no small extent; but a certain number of characteristic features, belonging to the inner life, seem to have obtained general recognition while there is a still more complete agreement as to the outward presentation of the religion in the habits and actions of the people." (Rawlinson's History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. I, pp. 322-3).

4. _Dual Nature of the Egyptian Religion:_ "It appears to be certain that the Egyptian religion, like most other religions in the ancient world, had two phases or aspects: One, that in which it was presented to the general public or vast mass of the population. The other, that which it bore in the minds of the intelligent, the learned, the initiated. To the former, it was a polytheism of a multitudinous, and, in many respects, of a gross character. To the latter it was a system combining strict monotheism with a metaphysical, speculative philosophy on the two great subjects of the nature of God and the destiny of man, which sought to exhaust those deep and unfathomable mysteries. Those who take the lowest views of the Egyptian religion, admit that 'the idea of a single, self-existent deity,' was involved in the conceptions which it set forth, and is to be found not unfrequently in the hymns and prayers of the ritual. It is impossible that this should have been so, unless there were a class of persons who saw behind the popular mythology, understood its symbolical or metaphysical character, and were able in this way to reconcile their conformity to the established worship with the great truths of natural religion which, it is clear, they knew, and which they must have cherished in their heart of hearts."

5. _Esoteric Doctrine of the Egyptians:_ "The primary doctrine of the esoteric religion undoubtedly was the real essential Unity of the Divine Nature. The sacred texts taught that there was a single Being, 'The sole producer of all things both in heaven and earth, Himself not produced of any'--'the only true, living God, self-originated'--'who exists from the beginning'--'who has made all things, but has not Himself been made.' This _'Being'_ seems never to have been represented by any material, even symbolical, form. It is thought that He had no name, or, if He had, that it must have been unlawful either to pronounce or write it. He was a pure Spirit, perfect in every respect--all-wise, almighty, supremely good.

6. _The Gods of the Egyptian Popular Mythology:_ "The gods of the popular mythology were understood, in the esoteric religion, to be either personified attributes of the Deity, or parts of the nature which He had created, considered as informed and inspired by Him Num, or Kneph, represented the creative mind, Phthah the creative hand, or act of creating; Maut represented matter, Ra the sun, Khons the moon, Seb the earth, Khem the generative power in nature, Nut the upper hemisphere of heaven, Athor the lower world or under hemisphere; Thoth personified the Divine wisdom; Ammon, perhaps, the Divine mysteriousness or incomprehensibility; Osiris (according to some) the Divine goodness. It is difficult, in many cases, to fix on the exact quality, act, or part of nature intended; but the principle admits of no doubt. No educated Egyptian priest certainly probably no educated layman, conceived of the popular gods as really separate and distinct beings. All knew that there was but one God, and understood that when worship was offered to Khem, or Kneph, or Phthah, or Maut, or Thoth, or Ammon, the one God was worshipped under some one of His forms or in some one of His aspects. It does not appear that in more than a very few cases did the Egyptian religion, as conceived of by the initiated, deify created beings, or constitute a class of secondary gods who owed their existence to the supreme God. Ra was not a Sun-Deity with a distinct and separate existence, but the supreme God acting in the sun, making His light to shine on the earth, warming, cheering, and blessing it; and so Ra might be worshipped with all the highest titles of honor, as indeed might any god, except the very few which are more properly called genii, and which corresponded to the angels of the Christian system. Such is Anubis, the conductor of souls in the lower world, and such probably are the four "genii of the dead," Amset, Tuamutef, Hapi (Apis), and Kebhsnauf, who performed so conspicuous a part in the ceremonial of Amenti." (For Notes 4 to 6 inclusive, see Rawlinson's History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. I, pp. 323-326).

7. _Significance of Animal Worship By Egyptians:_ "To exhibit in some symbol their ideas of their gods, was the very essence of Egyptian religion. This brought about the grossest of superstitious worship. To set forth in symbol the attributes, qualities and nature of their gods, the priests chose to use animals. The bull, cow, ram, cat, ape, crocodile, hippopotamus, hawk, ibis, scarabaeus, were all emblems of the gods. Often the head of one of these animals was joined to the body of a man in the sculpture. But let it be remembered, that the Egyptians never worshipped images or idols. They worshipped living representations of the gods, and not lifeless images of stone or metal. Their sculptures were never made for worship. They chose animals which corresponded as nearly as possible to their ideas of the gods. Each of these sacred creatures was carefully tended, fed, washed, dressed, nursed when sick, and petted during its whole life. After death, its body was embalmed. Certain cities were set apart for certain animals, and apartments of the temples were consecrated to their use. Priests were appointed to attend them. Not every animal of every kind was worshipped, only a few of each sacred kind were considered as sacred. A few of the whole number were supported at the expense of the state, and were attended by great personages. Certain animals were worshipped in parts of Egypt and detested in other parts. Thus the hippopotamus was worshipped in Papaemis alone; while the Thebans worshipped the crocodile; in other places they were hunted to death.

"Popularly, these animals were regarded as gods, and were really worshipped. By the Priests they were regarded simply as the representatives of the gods. If a man killed certain of the sacred animals, by the laws of Egypt he must die; if, however, in regard to some of them the killing was accidental, then he might escape by paying a heavy fine. (Dobbins" "World's Worship," pp. 101-2.)

"The ancient Egyptians had a tradition, that, at a certain period, men rebelled against the gods, and drove them out of heaven.[1] Upon this disaster taking place, the gods fled into Egypt, where they concealed themselves under the form of different animals; and this was the first reason assigned for the worship of these creatures. But there was another reason assigned for the worship of these animals, namely, the benefits which men often received from them, particularly in Egypt.

"Oxen, by their labor, helped to cultivate the ground; sheep clothed them with their wool; dogs, among many other services, prevented their houses from being robbed; the ibis, a bird somewhat resembling a stork, was of great service in destroying the winged serpents with which Egypt abounded; the crocodile, an amphibious creature, was worshipped because it prevented the wild Arabs from making incursions; the ichneumon, a little animal, was of great service to them in different ways; he watches the crocodile's absence and breaks his eggs, and when he lies down to sleep on the banks of the Nile, which he always does with his mouth open, this little creature jumps out of the mud, and leaping down his throat, forces his way down to his entrails, which he gnaws, then he pierces his belly, and thus triumphs over this most dreadful animal."--(Burder's "History of All Religion," pp. 507-8.)

8. _Disparagement Between Moral Code and Egyptian Practice:_ "In morals, the Egyptians combined an extraordinary degree of theoretic perfection with an exceedingly lax and imperfect practice. It has been said that the forty-two laws of the Egyptian religion, contained in the 125th chapter of the 'Book of the Dead,' fall short in nothing of the teachings of Christianity, and conjectured that Moses, in compiling his code of laws, did but 'translate into Hebrew the religious precepts which he found in the sacred books' of the people among whom he had been brought up. Such expressions are no doubt exaggerated; but they convey what must be allowed to be a fact, viz., that there is a very close agreement between the moral law of the Egyptians and the precepts of the Decalogue." (Rawlinson's History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. I, p. 108).

This high praise for the moral law of the Egyptian religion is borne out by answers that the spirit of man must make before Osiris in the judgment hall, where the decisive sentence is pronounced, either admitting the candidate to happiness, or excluding him forever.

"The deceased is obliged to _give proof of his knowledge;_ he must show that it is great enough to give him the right to be admitted to share the lot of glorified spirits Each of the forty-two judges, bearing a mystical name, questions him in turn; he is obliged to tell each one his name, and what it means. Nor is this all; he is obliged to give an account of his whole life."

"I have not blasphemed," says the deceased; "I have not stolen; I have not smitten men privily; I have not treated any person with cruelty; I have not stirred up trouble; I have not been idle; I have not been intoxicated; I have not made unjust commandments; I have shown no improper curiosity; I have not allowed my mouth to tell secrets; I have not wounded anyone; I have not let envy gnaw my heart; I have spoken evil neither of the king nor my father; I have not falsely accused anyone; I have not withheld milk from the mouths of sucklings; I have not practiced any shameful crime; I have not calumniated a slave to his master."

"The deceased does not confine himself to [merely] denying any ill conduct; he speaks of the good he has done in his lifetime: 'I have made to the gods the offerings that were their due; I have given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked.' We may well, on reading these passages, be astounded at this high morality, superior to that of all other ancient people, that the Egyptians had been able to build up on such a foundation as their religion. Without doubt it was this clear insight into truth, this tenderness of conscience, which obtained for the Egyptians the reputation for wisdom, echoed even by Holy Scripture." (Dobbin's World's Worship, pp. 110, 111).

Yet notwithstanding this profound knowledge of high moral truth, "the practice of the people," remarks Rawlinson, "was rather below, than above the common level. The Egyptian women were notoriously of loose character; and, whether as we meet with them in history, or as they are depicted in Egyptian romance, appear as immodest and licentious. The men practiced impurity openly, and boasted of it in their writings; they were industrious, cheerful, nay, even gay, under hardships, and not wanting in family affection; but they were cruel, vindictive, treacherous, avaricious, prone to superstition, and profoundly servile." (Rawlinson's History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 1, p. 109).

Is not the fact of this disparagement between the moral code and Egyptian practice, explained by the Book of Abraham, in its account of the origin of the Egyptian religion?

"Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal. Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom, and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood." (Book of Abraham, Ch. i; 25-6).

The moral law of the Egyptian religion, then, was doubtless copied from the true religion of the Antediluvian patriarchs by this wise and righteous Pharaoh; but being left in the hands of a people who soon fell away from righteous principles to the practice of gross sensualism, the divergence between moral theory and moral practice soon set in and drifted ever wider and wider apart, until we have the result observed and commented upon by the authorities above quoted.

9. _Observations on this Lesson:_ Read Note II, Lesson XII, and accept explanation there made as to copious notes for this lesson. Also adopt suggestion as to larger treatment of this lesson.

Footnotes

1. This is, doubtless, the "War in heaven" of the Hebrew Scriptures, with the results reversed.

LESSON XIV.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

_ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF GOD.--(Continued.)_

_ANALYSIS._ _REFERENCES._

_VI. Beliefs of the Phoenicians and Their Myers "General History."
Colonies._ Ch. vii. "Mythologies
of All Nations"
1. The Phoenicians. (Crabb), Chs. lv and lvi.
"The Story of the
2. Their Principal Deities. World's Worship" (Dobbins),
p. 142 et seq.

_VII. Persian Ideas of God, and Worship._ Myers' "General History,"
1. The Persians. Ch. viii. Book of
2. Persian Religion and Worship. Daniel, the Prophet.
Burder's "History of All
Religions," p. 519 et seq.
Ten Great Religions
(Clarke), Ch. 1, and the

_SPECIAL TEXT: "Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus: * * * * I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me; I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me." (Isaiah xlv:1, 2, 3.)_

_NOTES._

1. _The Phoenicians:_ "Ancient Phoenicia embraced a little strip of broken seacoast lying between the Mediterranean Sea and the ranges of Mount Lebanon. * * * The Phoenicians were of Semitic race. Their ancestors lived in the neighborhood of the Persian Gulf. From their seats in that region they migrated westward, like the ancestors of the Hebrews, and reached the Mediterranean before the light of history had fallen upon its shores. The various Phoenician cities never coalesced to form a true nation. They constituted merely a sort of league or confederacy, the petty states of which generally acknowledged the leadership of Tyre or of Sidon, the two chief cities. The place of supremacy in the confederation was at first held by Sidon, but later by Tyre.

"The greatest of the Phoenician colonies was Carthage, on the northern coast of Africa, founded by Dido, a Tyrian princess, 878 B. C. For awhile, Carthage contested the mastery of the world with Rome." (Myers' General History, p. 54.)

2. _The Gods of the Phoenicians:_ "The Phoenicians had somewhat the same religious notions as the Babylonians, and worshipped some of the same gods, Baal for instance" (Crabb Ch. lv.). "Baal was the supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations. Ashtoreth was their female divinity. The name Baal means lord. He was the sun-god. The name is generally used in connection with other names as Baal-Gad, that is Baal the Fortune-bringer; Baal-Berith or Covenant-making Baal; Baal-Zebub, the Fly-god. The people of Israel worshipped Baal up to the time of Samuel, at whose rebuke they forsook this iniquity for nearly a hundred years. The practice was introduced again in the time of Solomon, and continued to the days of the captivity." (Dobbin's World's Worship, p. 142).

It was with the priests of Baal, on Mount Carmal, that Elijah had his great contest, in which Jehovah was vindicated as God. (See I Kings, xviii.)

3. _The Worship of Moloch:_ Saturn was most honored by the Carthaginians a colony of the Phoenicians, be it remembered; and Saturn was the Moloch of the Jewish scripture.

"This idol was the deity to whom they offered up human sacrifices, and to this we owe the fable of Saturn's having devoured his own children. Princes and great men, under particular calamities, used to offer up their most beloved children to this idol. Private persons imitated the conduct of their princes, and thus, in time, the practice became general; nay, to such a height did they carry their infatuation, that those who had no children of their own purchased those of the poor, that they might not be deprived of the benefits of such a sacrifice, which was to procure them the completion of their wishes. This horrid custom prevailed long among the Phoenicians, the Tyrians, and the Carthaginians; and from them the Israelites borrowed it, although expressly contrary to the order of God.

"The original practice was to burn these innocent children in a fiery furnace, like those in the valley of Hinnom, so often mentioned in Scripture; and sometimes they put them into a hollow brass statue of Saturn, flaming hot. To drown the cries of the unhappy victims, musicians were ordered to play on different instruments--and mothers--shocking thought!--made it a sort of merit to divest themselves of natural affections while they beheld the barbarous spectacle. If it happened that a tear dropped from the eyes of a mother, then the sacrifice was considered as of no effect; and the parent who had that remaining spark of tenderness was considered as an enemy to the public religion. In later times they contented themselves with making their children walk between two slow fires to the statue of the idol; but this was only a more slow and excruciating torture, for the innocent victims always perished. This is what, in Scripture, is called the making their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Moloch; and barbarous as it was, yet those very Israelites in whose favor God had wrought so many wonders, demeaned themselves so low as to comply with it." (II Kings, xvi and xxi.) (Burder's History of All Religions, pp. 510, 511).

4. _The Persians:_ "In remote times some Aryan tribes, separating from the other members of the Aryan family, sought new abodes on the plateau of Iran (East of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, and between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf). The tribes that settled in the south became known as the Persians, while those that took possession of the mountain regions of the northwest were called Medes. The names of the two peoples were always very closely associated, as in the familiar legend, 'The law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.' The Medes were at first the leading people. But the leadership of the Median chieftains was of short duration. A certain Cyrus, king of Anshan, in Elam, overthrew their power, assumed the leadership of both Medes and Persians, and soon built up an empire more extended, so far as we know, than any established before his time." (Myers' General History p. 59).

5. _Persian Literature:_ "The literature of the ancient Persians was mostly religious. Their sacred book is called the Zend-Avesta. The religious system it teaches is known as Zoroastrianism, from Zoroaster, its supposed founder. This great reformer and teacher is believed to have lived and taught about six centuries before our era.

"Zoroastrianism was a system of belief known as dualism. Opposed to the "good spirit," Ormazd (Ahura Mazda), there was a "dark spirit," Ahriman (Angro-Mainyus), who was constantly striving to destroy the good creations of Ormazd by creating all evil things;--storm, drought, pestilence, noxious animals, weeds and thorns in the world without, and evil in the heart of man within. From all eternity these two powers had been contending for the mastery; in the present, neither had the decided advantage, but in the near future Ormazd would triumph over Ahriman, and evil be forever destroyed.

"The duty of man was to aid Ormazd by working with him against the evil-loving Ahriman. He must labor to eradicate every evil and vice in his own bosom, to reclaim the earth from barrenness, and to kill all noxious animals--frogs, toads, snakes, lizards--which Ahriman had created. Herodotus saw with amazement the priests armed with weapons and engaged in slaying these animals as a pious pastime." (Myers' General History, p. 63).

6. _The Religion of the Persians:_ "The religion of the Medes and Persians was of great antiquity, and probably taught by one of the grandsons of Noah, who planted colonies in those parts, soon after the confusion of languages. Noah had taught his children the knowledge of the true God; and that they were to trust in His mercy, through the mediation of a Redeemer. In Persia, the first idolaters were called Sabians, who adored the rising sun with the profoundest veneration. To that planet they consecrated a most magnificent chariot, to be drawn by horses of the greatest beauty and magnitude, on every solemn festival. The same ceremony was practiced by many other heathens, who undoubtedly learned it from the Persian and other Eastern nations.

"In consequence of the veneration they paid to the sun, they worshipped the fire, and invoked it in all their sacrifices, in their marches they carried it before their kings, and none but the priests were permitted to touch it, because they made the people believe that it came down from heaven. But their adoration was not confined to the sun; they worshipped the water, the earth, and the winds, as so many deities. Human sacrifices were offered by them; and they burnt their children in fiery furnaces, appropriated to their idols. These Medes and Persians at first worshipped two gods, namely, Arimanius, the god of evil, and Oromasdes, the giver of all good. By some it was believed that the good god was from eternity, and the evil one created; but they all agreed that they would continue to the end of time, and that the good god would overcome the evil one. They considered darkness as the symbol of the evil god, and light as the image of the good one. They held Arimanius, the evil god, in such detestation that they always wrote his name backward. Some ancient writers have given us a very odd account of the origin of this god Arimanius, which may serve to point out their ignorance of divine things. Oromasdes, say they, considering that he was alone, said to himself, 'It I have no one to oppose me, where, then, is all my glory?' This single reflection of his created Arimanius, who, by his everlasting opposition to the divine will, contributed against inclination to the glory of Oromasdes." (Burder's History of All Religions, pp. 520, 521).

7. _Persian Worship:_ "The great monarchy of Persia, founded by Cyrus 100 years before, is now at this period (430 years before Christ), already tending toward its decline. A hundred years later, it is to fall before the triumphant march of Alexander and his Macedonians. But now it still retains the ancient faith of Zoroaster, though modified by the developments of a thousand years. Herodotus describes it as it existed at the period of which we speak. In his insatiate desire for knowledge, he had gathered up all that he could learn of Persia, and says: 'It is not customary for the Persians to have idols, temples, or altars. They offer sacrifices on the summits of mountains, not erecting altars or kindling fires, but they carry the animal to a pure spot, and there the sacrificer prays for the prosperity of the empire, the king, and all others.' * * * * * 'The Persians believe fire to be a god.'

"Herodotus we find to be correct. Here are no temples, no altars, no idol worship of any kind. The Supreme Being is worshipped by one symbol--fire, which is pure and purifies all things. The prayers are for purity, the libation the juice of a plant. Ormazd has created everything good, and all his creatures are pure. Listen to the priest chanting the litany, thus: 'I invoke and celebrate Ahura Mazda, brilliant, greatest, best. All perfect, all-powerful, all-wise, all-beautiful, only source of knowledge and happiness; he has created us, he has formed us, he sustains us.' 'He belongs to those who think good; to those who think evil he does not belong.' He belongs to those who speak good; to those who speak evil he does not belong. He belongs to those who do good; to those who do evil he does not belong.' This is the religion of the great race who founded the Persian Empire.

"To these worshippers life did not seem to be a gay festival, as to the Greeks, nor a single step on the long pathway of the soul's transmigration, as to the Egyptians; but a field of battle between mighty powers of good and evil, where Ormazd and Ahriman meet in daily conflict, and where the servant of God is to maintain a perpetual battle against the powers of darkness, by cherishing good thoughts, good words, and good actions." (Ten Great Religions--Clarke--pp. 11, 12)

8. _Changes in the Persian Religion:_ "The religion of the Persians underwent a variety of very remarkable revolutions; for the Sabians, having fallen into disgrace, they were succeeded by another sect, called the Magi; who, on account of their pretensions to superior knowledge and sanctity, became extremely popular among the vulgar. Nay, such was the respect paid to them, that no king could take possession of the throne till he had been first instructed in their principles; nor could they determine any affair of importance till it had received their approbation. They were at the head both of religion and philosophy; and the education of all the youth in the kingdom was committed to their care.